[You have defeated the Serpent's Embrace, Cassiopeia (Hero). You have leveled up by 1, gained 200 Blue Essences, 20 Orange Essences, and 2 skill points.]
[Congratulations! Your level has increased to 19, and you have gained 1 skill point.]
[Remaining skill points: 18]
[Wealth: 1400 Blue Essences, 170 Orange Essences]
...
Huh? How come the level-up and rewards for defeating Cassiopeia are so few this time? Li Lin, noticing the system prompt, felt perplexed.
Last time, killing Twitch got me a whopping 4 levels, 1000 Blue Essences, 100 Orange Essences, and 5 skill points.
Could it be because Cassiopeia hasn't reached the power level of the Ascended yet, so the rewards are reduced? Or perhaps, the rewards are based on the peak strength of the "heroes," regardless of their current power?
Quite likely.
But this needs further confirmation in the future...
Just as Li Lin pondered, Kassadin's soft call brought him back to reality: "Li Lin..."
His voice carried a hint of hesitation, as if he was debating whether to speak up.
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I believe there's nothing between us that needs to be concealed," Li Lin switched the storm mode, saying.
After some thought, Kassadin couldn't resist asking, "Earlier, you mentioned that the Noxian woman suffered a curse from an Ascended warrior..."
"Oh, you mean that? In the records of Shurima, during the Darkin War, there was a snake-headed God-warrior that wreaked havoc. Naganeka from the Zuretta, transformed into a serpent form, adept in using arcane poisons."
"That's her." Li Lin pointed to where Cassiopeia had been, "You should have seen she was poisoned; her legs were twisting into a long, tail-like shape."
Kassadin was stunned; he had been fully alert to the five Noxian soldiers and hadn't noticed Cassiopeia's transformation.
But Li Lin had no reason to deceive himself in this matter; he believed the words.
Then he raised a new question, "But what does the celestial magic refer to?"
"Magic actually has many types. For example, the 'sun' power injected into Ascended warriors by the sun disk is considered celestial magic..."
Li Lin briefly introduced the types of Runeterra magic he knew to Kassadin.
Of course, some of this information he learned from background knowledge, while more came from the books in Kiramman's collection.
As they continued towards the depths of the tomb, deliberately slowing their pace, Kassadin asked another question, "So, will that celestial magic awaken Azir's dormant soul?"
Li Lin wouldn't help save Sivir; that task would be left to Azir. He needed to place her in the Fountain of Life, capable of reviving only one person. This selfless act would reactivate Azir's ascension ritual, reshaping him into the form of an Ascended.
But all of this was conditional on opening the last enormous tomb door leading to the ancient tomb...
While Li Lin and Kassadin continued to stealthily navigate the narrowing passage, the entire tomb gradually shook.
Yellow sand poured down, and fragments of gravel hit the storm and their powered armor, producing crisp sounds.
"Damn it! What did those Noxians do?!" Kassadin's heart sank as he grabbed Li Lin, who was still trying to move forward, shouting, "The tomb is about to collapse. Let's escape quickly while we still can!"
"Don't panic..." Li Lin tried to remain calm, unaffected by Kassadin's urgency.
At this stage, the tomb door should be opening...
This thought had just crossed his mind when a distant and furious roar, obviously inhuman, echoed from the depths of the tomb.
Following that, a series of excited mad laughter, "Hahaha... Three thousand years, three thousand years! Renekton, Nasus, you can't contain me!"
Li Lin and Kassadin simultaneously felt a sour taste rising in their mouths, a normal physiological reaction when someone was casting magic.
Along with the last intense tremor and roar of the tomb, it seemed like huge rocks were falling in front of them.
The deep laughter gradually faded, and the inhuman roars also moved away.
Li Lin and Kassadin, still in shock, felt the sourness in their mouths dissipate, indicating that the two horrifying individuals escaping from the tomb had left.
Coming to his senses, Kassadin immediately guessed the owners of the two voices, "That was... the Ascended warrior Renekton and the traitor Xerath?! What you said was actually true..."
"Now that they've escaped, and the tomb is no longer shaking, the last door should be fully open," Li Lin glanced at Kassadin beside him, "There's probably no more danger ahead. Let's get going."
...
...
Endless flames, colossal celestial magic, instantly incinerated the physical body.
Pain, then complete silence.
Unable to sense space, not even the meaning of time existed.
But a mysterious, blood-connected disturbance awakened a man's soul, dormant for thousands of years, from the depths of the ancient tomb.
"What... happened?" his weak voice echoed in the endless darkness, "Am I... dead?"
He seemed bewildered by his current state.
Pain...
An attempt to recall what happened on the day of the ascension ceremony would make the man feel a tearing pain in his soul.
"I am... Azir... why... did the ascension ritual fail... this is impossible..."
As a semi-transparent figure gradually took shape, Azir began to restore his original form before death.
However, he was not complete now, just a visible soul connected by a tangible dust, sustained by his only remaining indomitable will.
Azir stumbled in his steps, aimlessly wandering in the ruins of the ancient tomb.
"My empire... Shurima... has collapsed..."
He could feel the deep sorrow in the depths of his soul, yet his eyes couldn't shed a single tear.
"No... there is still a chance..."
Suddenly, Azir's gaze turned to a direction, where the once Dawn Oasis was located.
He could sense that, after his revival, the collapsed sun disk responded to his will, once again releasing the last drop of the water of life.
Although meager, it was enough for him to reshape his body and return to the mortal world.
As long as he could fully resurrect, rebuilding the Shuriman Empire was not a difficult task!
A glimmer of hope flashed in Azir's eyes, and he couldn't help but quicken his pace towards the Dawn Oasis.
Under the flow of magical energy from the ancient tomb, the yellow sand on the ground gathered, as if re-crowning the fallen emperor, gradually forming the temporary structure of his body.
However, as Azir just stepped out of the tomb's main gate, a girl lying in a pool of blood not far away suddenly caught his attention.
A feeling of blood connection...
But quickly, his gaze turned to a narrow passage leading to the great hall.
Two individuals in strange, intricate metal armor ran out, followed by two peculiar floating objects.
Azir's brows, formed by flowing sand, slightly furrowed, and in a hoarse and low voice, he asked, "Who are you?"
(End of this chapter)
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Li Lin and Kassadin hurried to the grand hall, the first thing catching their attention being the massive tomb door already wide open, with a humanoid soul composed of yellow sand standing in front of it.
"What is this?" Kassadin, obviously unable to recognize an emperor who had been dead for three thousand years, asked.
Even without utilizing his analytical thinking skills, Li Lin could guess his identity—the soul of Azir, awakened by Sivir's blood.
"He doesn't seem hostile towards us. Let's not bother with him," Li Lin quickly pointed to Sivir lying in a pool of blood, not waiting for Kassadin's response. "Let's go check on Sivir."
Saying that, he ran to Sivir's side before Azir, still in a daze, could reach her, activating his analytical thinking to assess her condition.
[Name: Sivir]
[Condition: Critical (cannot be treated by conventional means).]
Looking at the dagger embedded in Sivir's back, the wound obscured by blood and flesh, the blood had coagulated into dark red clots, ceasing its outward flow.
"She's beyond saving," Kassadin, arriving next to Li Lin, said as he extended his hand, placing it on Li Lin's shoulder. "Unless we find a healing master from Ionia... but in this vast desert, where do we..."
At this moment, Azir, approaching them, interrupted his words, "Her name is Sivir, right? Hand her over to me."
A hint of suspicion flashed in Kassadin's eyes. "...Who are you?"
Azir didn't give a specific answer, just silently shook his head. "It doesn't matter now."
The life water of the Dawn Oasis was only sufficient for one complete resurrection.
Azir had initially thought of reviving himself to restore Shurima's glory.
However, upon seeing this dying descendant with his own bloodline, all thoughts related to the empire and power were cast aside.
He slowly crouched down, exerting effort to lift the daughter of Shurima, stumbling towards a low corner of the grand hall.
Li Lin and Kassadin showed no intention of offering help.
One knew this was a necessary process for Azir's ascension, and the other discerned that this unknown soul had to complete this final task before his dissipation—he didn't need assistance.
Although Kassadin didn't understand how Azir could save the life of Sivir, who had suffered fatal injuries...
As Azir approached step by step, the Dawn Oasis, which was slowly trickling clear water, began to surge, filling the basin made of stones.
The majestic force of life emerged in every drop of water, and even Li Lin and Kassadin, clad in power armor, could clearly feel the unusual nature of this faintly green-tinted clear water.
"This is... the life water recorded in the ancient texts?!" Kassadin's face changed, inhaling a cold breath.
Legend had it that during Shurima's peak, the waterfall of life water flowed from the disc of the sun, converging into the Dawn Oasis and distributing to various regions of Shurima.
At that time, almost no harsh desert areas existed in the entirety of Shurima. Lush grasslands and vast lakes and rivers covered the entire continent.
In the leadership of the emperor and celestial warriors, even after experiencing the Void War, the people of the Shurima Empire continued to live a comfortable life.
However, all of this dispersed as the sun disc collapsed, and the Sun City turned into ruins.
Now, under the influence of the just revived soul, the water of life could flow once again...
Kassadin immediately guessed the identity of this man, "You are... Emperor Azir?!"
Azir remained silent, almost devoid of the breath of life, gently placing Sivir, whose life force was almost gone, in the basin, amidst the lifeful green glow of the water of life.
The bone-chilling magical spring water entered Sivir's body through her grimacing wound, and under the surging green magic of life, the dagger at her waist was rapidly pushed out through healed flesh.
Azir slowly stood up, walking out of the Fountain of Life, looking at Sivir, who had just opened her eyes, in the fountain.
At this moment, a dazzling pale white light suddenly shot down from the destroyed top of the hall, reflecting along the reflective metal in the ruins and finally converging on the core fragment of the sun disc on one side of the hall. It suddenly turned into a more intense orange-red flame beam, reflecting onto Azir, beside the Fountain of Life.
"What is this?!" The shock on Kassadin's face was fully revealed under his mask.
As the orange-red magical light surrounded Azir, he was slowly lifted into the air by this pillar of flame.
The grains of sand on his body were pushed away by the magic from the celestial realm, and his original fleshy body was rapidly recovering.
But this was not the end.
With Azir's explosive roar, he suddenly opened his arms, a pair of magic-formed wings disappeared behind him in an instant. Countless grains of sand continued to flow into his body with the magic from the tomb, making him even more dazzling.
In the blink of an eye, countless beams of light radiated from his now just recovered flesh, piercing his body like the glaring yellow-white light of the sun, illuminating the entire dark space.
Li Lin and Kassadin unconsciously turned their faces away, unable to continue to look directly at Azir.
As the intense metallic sour taste in their mouths gradually faded, the two opened their eyes, and the glaring light in the vast underground space had dissipated.
Standing in front of them at this moment was the celestial warrior with a magnificent eagle armor appearance, created by the magic from the celestial realm, possessing the power to manipulate the sands, and also the last emperor of Shurima.
Azir was clad from head to toe in golden armor, with a bright and clear gem embedded in the center of the armor on his chest, like the clear and bright sky in spring.
His shoulder pads were carved with magic into the shape of spread wings, with a yellow-brown dustproof cloak and several dark red belts with golden edges hanging on top.
At this moment, Sivir also stood up from the fountain, looking alertly at the ascendant with radiant golden light falling from the sky, her eyes shining with intimidating golden light.
"Who are you?!" she demanded.
Azir shook his head, not answering Sivir, who was on guard against him. He just stood firmly on the stone platform beside the Fountain of Life, gently reaching out towards the front.
Suddenly, within the ancient tomb ruins, numerous fallen rocks restored and reassembled into their original form, then slowly rose under the drag of magic.
Above everyone's heads, a golden light illuminated the dark night sky, dispelling the darkness in the hall.
Li Lin, Kassadin, and Sivir unconsciously looked up, and their gazes, through the slowly recovering colossal architectural structure, finally focused on a sun disc suspended about 800 meters above the ground, resembling a golden sun.
Azir paid no attention to Sivir, as well as Li Lin and Kassadin, who were a distance away from them. He just looked up at the sun disc above, using his very dignified and powerful voice to say slowly:
"Shurima, your emperor has returned."
(End of this chapter)
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